combat aircraft

apparently all responded. USAF

evaluations led to a one-year ADAIR I

contract being awarded to Draken

International in 2015. This eventually

went through three extensions and

three modi cations to account for

continued growth and requirements as

the USAF sought a more permanent

adversary solution.

Over the next three years, Draken

performed the ‘Red Air’ mission from

Nellis until the formal, follow-on, ADAIR

II contract was awarded this year. Lt Col

(ret’d) Jerry ‘Jive’ Kerby is Draken’s

vice-president of operations. ‘For nearly

three years Draken International has

been operating from Nellis’, he says.

‘Besides  ying the ‘Red Air’ role

alongside the 64th AGRS for ‘Red Flag’,

more than 90 per cent of our  ying is

done for the Weapons School.’ Kerby

continues, ‘We are punishing ‘Blue Air’

[students] in the mistakes they make. It’s

not our plan to win. We are there to

train them.’

Most of the squadrons within the

Weapons School engage in some form

of adversary training, from the  ghters

to the HH-60G Pave Hawks. ‘Nellis treats

us as if we are a permanent part of their

aggressors,’ Kerby says. ‘We get good

feedback from them and they like what

they are getting from us.’

To meet the mission, ADAIR I saw

Draken operating 11 Douglas A-4K/N

Skyhawks and latterly 12 Aero

Vodochody L-159E ‘Honey Badger’

Advanced Light Combat Aircraft (ALCA)

from Nellis. The A-4s in particular were

extensively upgraded and now feature

the AN/APG-66(v)7  re control radar, a

new radar warning receiver (RWR), and a

MIL-STD-1553B digital databus enabling

the carriage of electronic attack training

pods. Draken’s 21 ‘Honey Badgers’ have

the Leonardo Grifo-L radar. ‘We are one

solution to the shortfall of ‘Red Air’

capacity because we can provide the

numbers of aircraft the USAF would like

to have at any time,’ states Kerby. Indeed,

recent times have seen Draken  ying

more individual sorties than the resident

aggressor F-16s at Nellis.

ADAIR II

The latest contract award to Draken

builds on this experience. Lt Col (ret’d)

Sean ‘Stroker’ Gustafson is Draken’s

vice-president of business development,

and he says, ‘There are many

requirements for the ADAIR II contract to

provide realistic threat representation for

the Weapons School, the 422nd TES [Test

and Evaluation Squadron], [and] ‘Red Flag’

as well as other USAF locations.’ ADAIR II

will start with a three-year contract with

two option years, lasting until

December 2023.

Draken’s ADAIR II aircraft must be

capable of  ying at Mach 1.5 and of

completing sorties lasting up to 60

Above: Draken

International

procured

21 L-159E

Advanced Light

Combat Aircraft

from Czech

manufacturer

Aero Vodochody.

Frank Crébas/

Bluelife Aviation

Left: A Draken

A-4N turns fi nals

at Nellis AFB

as it returns

from a mission

supporting the

USAF Weapons

School.

Jamie Hunter

Below: The

USAF Weapons

School has a

high demand for

Draken’s services

as pilots need to

be able to work

against a variety

of aggressors

with different

capabilities. Frank

Visser/Northern

Skies Aviation

34 November 2018 //^ http://www.combataircraft.net

INDUSTRY REPORT // ADVERSARY AIR SUPPORT